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1B Sports 49ers' Crabtree prepares for possible season debut SANTA CLARA (AP) — Just as the passing game has started to click for the San Francisco 49ers at last, here comes Michael Crabtree. The team's top wide receiver from 2012 is back on the active roster six months after Achilles tendon surgery and poised to make his season debut Sunday against St. Louis if all goes as hoped during practice this week. ''There's things he does that he's the best in football at, and that certainly bodes well for us and we're excited about it,'' coach Jim Harbaugh said Wednesday. ''Catching the ball, there's routes that he runs, tackles he breaks, plays that he makes. There's evidence there.'' Adding Crabtree to the mix for the 49ers (7-4) would provide a big boost to a receiving corps that made significant strides in a 27-6 win at Washington on Monday night. Crabtree became Colin Kaepernick's top target last year and had career bests of 85 receptions for 1,105 yards and nine touchdowns. ''I'm good,'' Crabtree said but he wouldn't elaborate. He was activated from the physically unable to perform list Tuesday to the 53man active roster. Harbaugh won't tip his hand too early in the week, while also noting that everything depends on how Crabtree gets through practice. ''Good meetings this morning. Good sessions there. Bright-eyed and ready to go,'' Harbaugh said before the team practiced Wednesday. ''Optimistic like I said the other day. Hope for the best and we'll have a plan if he's not able to go. It's pretty much that simple.'' Mario Manningham continues to impress playing opposite Anquan Boldin after three games back following knee surgery last year. Manningham hopes his unit can build off a strong performance and develop some consistency. ''We've just got to do it every week. We can't be inconsistent,'' Manningham said. ''We've got to come out like that every week.'' Manningham and tight end Vernon Davis each made four catches at Washington, while Boldin had five receptions and a pair of touchdowns. Now, if Crabtree is back in the mix, defenses will have a harder time doubleteaming Davis downfield. ''It will be great to have Crab back. He's a great talent,'' left tackle Joe Staley said. ''Everybody knows what he can do and is excited to see him back out there. I know he's excited to get back out there, the way he competes and all the hard work he's put in to get back.'' Kaepernick isn't ready to guess whether he might be throwing passes Crabtree's way again this weekend. ''That's going to be his call 100 percent,'' Kaepernick said. Crabtree has made steady progress back from his injury. He tore his right Achilles tendon during 7on-7 drills in an organized team activity May 21 then had surgery. The NFC champion Niners said from the beginning they thought he would return this season after Crabtree was a huge reason the franchise reached the Super Bowl again for the first time in 18 years. Rams coach Jeff Fisher is preparing his defense as if Crabtree will be on the field, and prepare for a variety of ways Crabtree might be utilized. He noted ''it's hard for us to predict.'' Friday November 29, 2013 Hamilton falls to Winters in section title game By JOSEPH SHUFELBERGER MediaNews Group Sports Writer HAMILTON CITY — Fittingly, the Northern Section Division III championship belonged to the visitors. A matchup of teams that twice won on the road to reach the final went the way of the Winters High football team in a 57-28 victory over host Hamilton on Wednesday night. Dual-threat quarterback Jacob Lowrie accounted for 268 yards and four touchdowns on the night to lead sixth-seeded Winters to its first section title in nearly two decades. Lowrie ran for 133 yards on 15 carries that included touchdowns of 17 and 13 yards, and he threw for 135 yards as he completed 10 of his 11 passes on the night. Two of his throws went for scores, first a 24yarder to Trevor Ray and then a 27yarder to Ben Case. Ray had his own big game as he also scored on an 81-yard run with 3:49 left in the first half, putting Winters ahead 29-7. Ray finished with 165 yards rushing on seven carries, and he added 40 more yards on three catches. Hamilton (9-4) received a rushing touchdown each from Austin Burbank, Theron Fumasi, Ricky Pompa and Andrew Shippelhoute, but the Braves couldn't get enough stops as the game wore on, and two costly fumbles put them in an early hole. "Two fumbles. I mean it was the same thing that's been our Achilles' heel," Hamilton coach Ryan Bentz said. "We tried to work on it. We tried to practice against it, and we MediaNews Group photo Hamilton High's Ricky Pompa (left) gets tackled by Winters' Jacob Lowrie (12) in the second quarter of the Northern Section Division III championship game Wednesday in Hamilton City. still turn the ball over. Turnovers killed us to start the game, and you know they're a really good offense." Ray's long run came three plays after fifth-seeded Hamilton's second fumble, this time on the Warriors' 3yard line. A touchdown would have made it a single-score game late in the first half. But Winters (9-4) was not to be denied Wednesday as Ray's TD left the Warriors up 29-7 at halftime. "I'm not disappointed in my team, but I thought we could have played better tonight," Bentz said. "All the credit to Winters." The Warriors led 22-0 after the first play of the second quarter when Chaz Mathews scored on a 6-yard TD run, and he punched in the 2point conversion. The Warriors chose to go for 2 after Hamilton committed one of seven first-half penalties. Mathews later added a 15-yarder as he finished with 89 yards on 14 carries. The first period couldn't have gone much worse for Hamilton. The Braves had a punt partially blocked after the opening possession of the game. That set up Winters at the Hamilton 29-yard line. Four plays later, Lowrie scored on a 17-yard TD run with 8:16 left in the first quarter. The Braves' first fumble came on the next possession after Hamilton drove to Winters' 20. The Warriors needed five plays to cash in the miscue, this time on Lowrie's 24-yard TD pass to Ray. Hamilton had some offense, most of it on the ground as Burbank finished with 141 yards rushing and a 10-yard TD run on 18 carries. His score got Hamilton within 22-7 after the Braves started on the Winters' 46. The Warriors had tried an onside kick, holding a 22-0 lead with 11:54 left in the second quarter. All that did was give the Braves good field position, and they scored three plays later. But the highlights were heavily in Winters' favor the rest of the night. Shippelhoute added 79 yards rushing and a 13-yard score on 16 carries for Hamilton. Fumasi scored on a 10-yard run, and quarterback Pompa added a 12-yard TD as time expired in the third quarter, getting Hamilton within 50-21. The Braves, hosting the title game for third straight season, beat No. 1 Colusa 22-21 in the semifinals on Friday after winning at fourth-seeded Willows 30-20 in the quarterfinals this year. "I'm proud of my kids. Nine and four. Runner-up," Bentz said. "We wanted to win, but that's how it goes." Winters earned its first title in 19 years, by first winning at Trinity 4342 in Weaverville and then at Durham 21-6 in the semifinals to set up an unlikely Wednesday final between the Nos. 5 and 6 seeds. Last season, Hamilton fell to Willows 21-20 in the D-III final, and in 2011, the Braves hosted the D-IV championship that went to Modoc 21-14. Cowboys rally back against Raiders 31-24 ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — DeMarco Murray did the finishing work for the Dallas Cowboys. Backup Lance Dunbar made his job a lot easier. Murray ran for three touchdowns, Dunbar had a career-high 82 yards rushing and the Cowboys overcame Oakland's fumble return for a score on the opening kickoff to beat the Raiders 31-24 Thursday. Murray had 63 yards rushing but did most of his damage near the goal line, including a 7-yard score to put Dallas ahead for good early in the fourth quarter. Dunbar, who went out with a left knee sprain, sparked the tying and goahead touchdown drives in the second half, highlighted by a 45-yard run that led to a 4-yard scoring pass from Tony Romo to Dez Bryant. The Cowboys (7-5) moved two games above .500 for the first time since late last season. The Raiders (4-8) are guaranteed an 11th straight season without a winning record since going to the Super Bowl during the 2002 season. Matt McGloin had a strong first half for the Raiders, leading consecutive TD drives that put Oakland up 21-7. But he didn't get much help from the league's fifth-best rushing attack, and his offense stalled in the second half. Murray had just 25 AP photo Oakland Raiders wide receiver Greg Jenkins (10) is stopped by Dallas Cowboys linebacker Kyle Bosworth (58), inside linebacker Ernie Sims (59) and outside linebacker Cameron Lawrence (53) during the first half, Thursday. yards after his third TD, but ran for another 38 to help Dallas burn the clock with a seven-point lead in the fourth quarter. Most of the late damage came on a drive to Dan Bailey's 19yard field goal to put Dal- las up by 10 with 1:56 left. Murray, who tied the score at 7-all on a 2-yard run the first play after a fumble by McGloin late in the first quarter, also had 39 yards receiving. Rashad Jennings rushed for 35 yards on 17 carries — a 2.1-yard average — and had both of Oakland's offensive touchdowns. Darren McFadden carried just five times for 13 yards in his return after missing three games with a hamstring injury. After McGloin completed a 21-yard pass to Andre Holmes on the first play of the second half, the Raiders didn't get another first down until the fourth quarter. Lions score 37 straight in rout over Packers DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Lions were dominant after a shaky start and snapped a few losing streaks. Matthew Stafford made up for some mistakes with three touchdown passes, including one to Calvin Johnson, to help Detroit score 37 straight points to beat the Green Bay Packers 40-10 on Thursday. The Lions (7-5) had lost their last two games, five consecutive against Green Bay and a franchise-record nine straight in their annual showcase on Thanksgiving. The Packers (5-6-1) have a five-game winless streak for the first time since 2008, showing how valuable Aaron Rodgers is for the franchise. Rodgers has missed fourplus games since fracturing his left collarbone. Matt Flynn became the fourth starting quarterback for Green Bay this year and was sacked seven times, once by Ndamukong Suh for a safety. Flynn didn't fare as well as he did in his last start for Green Bay against the same opponent. He was 10 of 20 for AP photo Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh (90) sacks Green Bay Packers quarterback Matt Flynn for a safety during the third quarter in Detroit,Thursday. 139 yards with an interception and two fumbles. In the last game of the 2011 regular season, while Rodgers rested for the playoffs, Flynn threw for 480 yards and six touchdowns in a 45-41 win over Detroit. Stafford was 22 of 35 for 330 yards with two interceptions and a fumble that was returned by Morgan Burnett to put the Packers up 10-3 early in the second quarter. After that, Detroit did whatever it wanted on both sides of the ball. Reggie Bush bounced back from a fumble deep in Green Bay territory with a go-ahead, 1-yard TD run to give Detroit a 17-10 lead late in the first half. He finished with 117 yards rushing and 65 yards receiving. Detroit's Joique Bell ran for 94 yards and a score. Johnson had six receptions for 101 yards and a 20-yard TD to put the Lions up 24-10 early in the third quarter. The Packers have been leaning on rookie running back Eddie Lacy lately, but he was limited to 16 yards on 10 carries against one of the NFL's best defenses against the run. If Detroit didn't start the game so poorly, the score could've been even more lopsided. Bush ended what was a productive opening possession by fumbling at the Green Bay 6 after former USC teammate Clay Matthews knocked the ball out of his hands. Detroit also had a firstand-goal from the Packers 7 and lost 2 yards on three plays, in part because of Brandon Pettigrew's false start, and settled for David Akers' field goal. On Detroit's next snap, Nick Perry stripped the ball away from Stafford, and Burnett's 1-yard return gave Green Bay its last lead. Stafford ended the next drive with an interception that was thrown directly at Tramon Williams as if the quarterback didn't see the cornerback. The Lions gained 561 yards and gave up just 126. Green Bay didn't have more than 100 yards of offense until there was a little more than a minute left, then Flynn fumbled in a fitting end for a game that he and his banged-up team would like to forget.